[Colorado-Talk] Fwd: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert 9/15/2021

[Dan Burke]

Greetings -

You read it too. Our bill, the Assistive Technology Affordability Act
(ATAA) is moving in the House of Representatives as part of the larger
Reconciliation bill. This is great news! The indefatigable legislative
and policy team at the National Federation of the Blind are calling on
us to get more  cosponsors on the Senate version of the ATAA, which is
S. 212, sponsored by Sen. Cardin. More cosponsors on the Senate bill
give it a better chance of also being included in the Senate version
of the Reconciliation package.

And we can make an impact in Colorado because neither of our Senators
are currently cosponsoring S. 212. This is an opportunity!
Please make two phone calls or send two emails to the staffers for
Sen. Bennet and Sen. Hickenlooper, who are listed below. Below their
info is a sample statement you can use, inserting your info and the
specific Senator whose office you are addressing.

Sen. Bennet
202-224-5852
Contact: Brian Appel
brian_appel at bennet.senate.gov

Sen. Hickenlooper
202-224-5941
Contact: Katie Cassling
kate_cassling at hickenlooper.senate.gov


"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I live in [CITY], Colorado. I
would like to urge [SENATOR NAME] to cosponsor the Access Technology
Affordability Act, S. 212. This legislation removes an employment
barrier commonly experienced by blind Americans who cannot afford the
high cost of access technology by creating a refundable tax credit in
the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of this technology.

Thanks."

[your name]

That's it - try to call this week!

Dan


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Pare, John via NFBNet-Members-List" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2021 19:42:24 +0000
Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Legislative Alert 9/15/2021
To: "nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org" <nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org>

Dear Federation Family:

Congratulations, our hard work has paid off. The provisions of the
Access Technology Affordability Act have been included in the
reconciliation package currently moving through the House of
Representatives. We will keep you apprised of this activity.

In the meantime, we need to move quickly to build cosponsor support
for the Access Technology Affordability Act in the Senate. We
currently have 24 Senate cosponsors but if we can dramatically
increase this number over the next week or two, it would greatly
improve our chances of this bill being included in the Senate version
of the reconciliation package.

Senator Cardin is the sponsor of the bill. The other 24 Senate
cosponsors are listed below. If one or both of your senators has not
yet cosponsored the Access Technology Affordability Act (S. 212) then
I urge you to call or email them and urge them to please cosponsor
this important legislation.

When you call or email, you might say the following:

"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I live in [CITY, STATE]. I would
like to urge [SENATOR NAME] to cosponsor the Access Technology
Affordability Act, S. 212. This legislation removes an employment
barrier commonly experienced by blind Americans who cannot afford the
high cost of access technology by creating a refundable tax credit in
the amount of $2,000 to offset the cost of this technology.

Thanks."

You can contact your member of Congress by calling the Capitol
Switchboard and asking for the office in question. The number is
202-224-3121. If you email your senators, please copy Jeff Kaloc at
jkaloc at nfb.org<mailto:jkaloc at nfb.org>. Your calls and emails do make a
difference.

It is best to call or email the relevant staff person in your
senator's office. For your convenience, we have attached a list of
relevant staffers in the Senate offices that have not cosponsored the
Access Technology Affordability Act (S. 212). If you do not see your
member of Congress, please email Jeff and he will do further research.

The list of current cosponsors is pasted below.

Thank you for all that you do,

John

S. 212 Cosponsors
Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]
Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA]
Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA]
Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL]
Sen. Young, Todd [R-IN]
Sen. Moran, Jerry [R-KS]
Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN]
Sen. Blunt, Roy [R-MO]
Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT]
Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV]
Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH]
Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY]
Sen. Burr, Richard [R-NC]
Sen. Cramer, Kevin [R-ND]
Sen. Brown, Sherrod [D-OH]
Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA]
Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI]
Sen. Leahy, Patrick [D-VT]
Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA]
Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV]

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-- 
Dan Burke

National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair

President, NFB of Denver

"Blindness is not what holds you back.  You can live the life you want!"

My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal
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